Association of Mineworkrs and Construction Union (Amcu) leader Joseph Mathunjwa says he worked hard to leave his poverty-stricken background and did not steal anything from anyone.

"Mathunjwa is working. Did I steal to anyone [sic]?" he asked in the third person on The New Age breakfast briefing on Monday.

"Mathunjwa comes from a background of poverty and now it's a sin to have one, two, and three without stealing anything."